All barking aside, this is one doggone good workout

Chris Zdeb, Postmedia News03.07.2012

English Bulldog Mr. Bean. Dog owners and their dogs working out together at Canine Quarters in Edmonton on February 4, 2012. The participants get fit and train their dog at the same time.Candace Elliott
/ Edmonton Journal

Darren Clark does some lunges with his standard poodle Pumpkin. Dog owners and their dogs working out together at Canine Quarters in Edmonton on February 4, 2012. The participants get fit and train their dog at the same time.Candace Elliott
/ Edmonton Journal

Karen Bentley does step ups with standard poodle Archie. Dog owners and their dogs working out together at Canine Quarters in Edmonton on February 4, 2012. The participants get fit and train their dog at the same time.Candace Elliott
/ Edmonton Journal

Mr. Bean walks briskly (for an English bulldog), circling the room several times before stopping off to the side, snuffling loudly from the exertion. His less-winded but slightly flush-faced exercise partner, Nicki Baron, patiently waits for him to recover before they rejoin the group warming up for an hour-long fitness class.

Darren Clark sees the Saturday afternoon class as a chance for his dogs, Scarlett, a mini apricot poodle, and Pumpkin, a black standard poodle, to get more exercise.

His wife, Raylene Palichuk, says it’s another opportunity for Clark, who has a lot of heart issues and an implanted defibrillator, to get moving more, too. "It’s the perfect kind of exercise for him because it’s not aggressive," she explains.

The hand weights and stretch bands used in the circuit training part of the class are great for someone like her with a family history of osteoporosis.

Certified personal trainer Bill Climie says he got the idea for the class last summer when he was working on his seniors and group-fitness certification and needed a room large enough to hold a group of people required for the test evaluation. A friend who owns Canine Quarters, a dog grooming and pet supply store in east Edmonton, offered space at the back of the shop.

Most of the people Climie invited to help him that day were his dog friends, some of whom brought along their four-legged pals. (Climie himself owns a papillon named Nemo and a standard poodle named Billie that he sometimes enters in dog shows.) They told him he should incorporate dogs into some of his people fitness classes, so he did.

The class starts with 15 to 20 minutes of cardio — some walking, some jogging to raise the heart rate.

"The warm-up also helps to focus the dogs (who stay on leashes), because they’re all coming here thinking, ’All right! Party time!’ " Climie says.

Hounds and handlers then go to various circuit training stations along the walls, switching centres every 45 seconds to two minutes until they’ve been through them all. The class ends with stretching.

Many of the people who come to class are new to exercise.

"They might have been to gyms or done stuff on their own, but to have a trainer actually work with them, most of them have never done that," Climie says.

He incorporates a lot of full-body exercises and core training — squats, lunges, cobras and crunches on exercise balls. Because without a strong core to keep you upright, you can’t do anything, he explains.

Most of the centres have a dog-activity component. As handlers step up and down on stackable risers, their dogs jump back and forth over a hurdle next to them. Every week, the step gets higher. While handlers do cobras (shoulder lifts) on an exercise ball, their dogs sit up with every raise off the ball and lay down when the handlers return to a starting position.

Handlers do squats and wall push-ups as their pets run through a long red children’s play tunnel over and over again.

"I do have a more advanced circuit that I can do to challenge (the handlers) more, but the dogs are part of every exercise and each station," Climie says.

Some handlers bring along a bag of treats to help keep their dogs focused. A few seem to over-treat their pets and that concerns Climie, who is bothered by the sight of over-weight dogs.

But the hands-down favourite fido activity is unrolling a towel on the floor with a canine cookie hidden in the folds, as their owners get down on the floor and get back up again.

Although the class is called Hounds and Handlers, it’s the latter group that is really getting the exercise, Climie says. The dogs are mostly getting socialization and stimulation, which is a workout in itself.

"A dog’s workout is almost as much about what’s going on between the ears as what’s going on with the muscles," Climie explains. Many handlers tell him their dogs crash after supper "because their brains have been going from all the different things happening in class."

What the dogs do is motivate their handlers to come to class and be more active.

Karen Bentley, who has two standard poodles named Archie and Stella, and a mini-poodle named Arden, works a desk job during the week, which doesn’t leave her much time for her pets.

"I kind of resent it when I have to do stuff on the weekends and I can’t take my dogs, so being able to exercise and have my dogs with me is perfect." She likely wouldn’t be exercising otherwise, Bentley says.

Tracy Hayduk, who takes the class with her chihuahua-cross Suzie Q, says the weekly workout and the weight loss program she’s on have helped her drop seven pounds and seven inches in five weeks. The enjoyment factor is less measurable, but "we’re all crazy dog ladies, so any chance you get to play with your dog is fun," she says.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.